S05.E04: Desserts

[Athena]

It's week four in the tent and the baking is getting serious. Having seen the bakers make cake, biscuits and bread, Mary and Paul up the ante - for the first time, we see how the bakers cope with multitasking across several baking skills at once.

For their signature challenge, the bakers must bake saucy puds - delicate sponges hiding a gooey saucy filling or a saucy surprise at the bottom. If baked for just a fraction too long the sauce won't ooze upon cutting, but they won't know if it has worked until they are judged.

Sue explores the origins of the Paignton pudding - a pudding larger than a cow that caused a riot in Paignton in the 19th century.

For the technical challenge, Mary sets the bakers her tiramisu cake. It's a new kind of tiramisu requiring the bakers to temper chocolate, bake beautifully thin coffee-soaked sponges and create perfect layers of sponge, cream and chocolate... but only if they read the recipe properly.

For their final flourish, the bakers are challenged to bake incredible show-stopping baked alaskas made up of cake, meringue and ice cream... on the hottest day of the year so far. In the centre of a field in the middle of the English countryside, the bakers have the odds stacked against them, as temperatures soar and tempers fray.

There is still everything to bake for... on your marks... get set... bake!

 

GBBO Desserts + Extra Slice talk allowed.

[RealityCheck]

Wikipedia lists the following for dessert week:

Signature challenge: saucy puddings

Technical challenge: tiramasu cake

Showstopper challenge: baked alaskas

[halopub]

I'm trying to restrain myself from joining the Twitter mob condemning Diana for her (edited to add: "supposed") role in Iain's calamity but bless him for his ability to joke about the incident months later. It will be interesting to see if any details start to come out about selective broadcast editing and what context production may or may not have provided the judges. I've already spotted one seeming inconsistency, with Mel's voiceover talking about the 25 degree weather and Paul on Twitter saying it was over 30. (Maybe they were referring to different challenges?)

 

I realize that there will be a UK bias in the preferred flavor profiles but I was surprised Mary Berry looked so skeptical about the idea of black sesame ice cream. It's such an established ingredient in traditional Japanese confectionary, plus sesame seed candy is popular across the Middle East and Asia. Hopefully I'm just reading too much into her expression and she was just unhappy about the appearance of the ice cream mix but otherwise she could use a trip to a London wagashi shop for some new-to-her sweets. 

 

With everything going on with Iain, it was fun to have those lighthearted moments with Luis's tiramisu diagram and later on, his pour into two mixers.

 

Edited to add: Apparently Sue is now saying that Iain's Alaska was only out of the freezer for less than a minute. So...purposely deceptive editing? Or just a wholly unintentional kerfuffle? Because that backlash online against Diana is fierce.

Edited August 27, 2014 by halopub

[Occasional Hope]

A literal meltdown ;)

[Meredith Quill]

Oh the Drama..............we should focus on the "Saucy......ooh Mrs" double entedres........much more fun and I loved 'em hehe! I am inspired to want to try making a few of those naughty saucy puds now!

 

TBF even Diana looked and acted semi-sheepish about it in the show, so she obviously felt a little guilty herself.

 

The flavour choice is unusual to us Brits generally, but that's nothing new on Bake Off.

 

 

SquirrelWatch was missed last week due to illness.

This weeks SquirrelWatch: 0

1 Black sheep....oooh foreshadowing, mayhaps?

[halopub]

TBF even Diana looked and acted semi-sheepish about it in the show, so she obviously felt a little guilty herself.

 

The flavour choice is unusual to us Brits generally, but that's nothing new on Bake Off.

 

 

I caught that defensive look, too, but unless Iain is in the shot at the same time we don't know if that moment was edited in out of sequence. It's a pretty common manipulation on US competitive and candid reality shows.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Brits, or Americans, for that matter, should necessarily be familiar with the use of sesame in sweets - I'm just frustrated with Mary Berry because food is her profession.    

Edited August 28, 2014 by halopub

[Athena]

I caught that defensive look, too, but unless Iain is in the shot at the same time we don't know if that moment was edited in out of sequence. It's a pretty common manipulation on US competitive and candid reality shows.

 

Yeah, and I watch UK and Brit food reality shows to avoid this kind of editing foolery. I haven't warmed to Diana so I wasn't too surprised. It was unintentional of course. I do think it was probably she took out, forgot about it, and it melted. As for time, who knows. 

 

I really liked the first two challenges. The last one was way too intense. I'm really liking Kate. She may not win, but I like her personality. I still like conventional Norman, but I'm getting tired of him being defensive about his rustic presentation. I like Chetna, Nancy and Richard too. I go back and forth on Luis and the others. 

[Rickster]

25 C is not THAT warm, so I found the idea that Iain's Alaska was out of the freezer for less than a minute hard to believe, looking at how melted it was. However, his reaction was wrong - he should have just thrown it back in the freezer and served it more or less like Chetna did.

 

It did seem something was wonky with the freezers. Maybe people were opening and closing the doors too often. With the weather conditions, it seems to me the fairest thing would have been to add more time to allow things to freeze, although I guess than would penalize contestants who had better time management.

 

I'm also curious how they handled the baked Alaskas during the judging portion. Given what I would think would be the time to shoot, taste and judge, and then set up the next dessert, I'd think they'd all be puddles at the end.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Rickster

[Occasional Hope]

Apparently Diana dropped out due to illness after this ep anyway - on BBC website.

[doesntworkonwood]

According to This article from the guardian Iain believes that it was out of the fridge for longer than a minute

 

 

 

After I made meringue for the outside of my baked alaska, I went over to the freezer to check how my ice cream was re-freezing, as it had melted slightly on the outside just before I put it in. Then I realised Diana had left it out of freezer. She moved it out of the way to put hers in. That was the reason it melted.

"I've chatted to Diana a couple of times since but I've never asked her why she did it. The Bake Off told me it was out of the fridge for only a minute but I think it had to be a lot longer than a minute to melt as much as that. I was just really shocked that it had been taken out of the freezer. I don't know why it was taken out."

[colin72]

Apparently Diana dropped out due to illness after this ep anyway - on BBC website.

Good. Her guilty conscience got he best of her.

 

I'm a little late to this discussion but I I just watched this episode and needed to vent.

 

Let me run through this...

 

Diana asks whose ice cream is in the freezer. She is told it is Iains. Why didn't she ask him to move it? Why didn't she speak with him? Instead she decides to take it out and set it in the heat. That is ridiculous. She knew everyone was struggling to get their ice cream to set.

 

When Ian asks where is my ice cream, Diana immediately says, "It's here. Sorry ian. We, we couldn't..." and she trails off. So what does that tell you? She knows it was a bad thing to set it outside because she apologizes. Also, she says "we, we couldn't". Who is this "we" she's talking about? She's trying to deflect responsibility and make it seem like there were other people involved. No Diana. It was you. YOU took it out of the freezer. YOU said nothing to Iian when you easily could have. YOU knew it was harming his work.

 

Iain says he thinks it was setting out of the freezer for more than a minute. People associated with the show have claimed it was less than a minute or only a minute. Surely they have the footage that shows EXACTLY how long it was setting there. Let's see it.

 

Also, let's remember that the only reason it wasn't setting there even longer is because Iain came looking for it. Diana knew it was there. Diana knew Iain thought it was in the freezer. Diana was going to let it there until Iain found it and not say a word. THAT is malicious.

 

Diana deserves any and all scorn she receives.

Edited September 3, 2014 by colin72

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I wonder if the show had already invited Howard to be one of the guests on An Extra Slice before Freezergate occurred. Maybe I have watched too many American reality tv shows to believe that it was just a weird coincidence. I'm glad they showed what happened last season with Howard's custard last season to remind us how unflappable he was.

 

To be fair, I do not blame Iain for getting frustrated and throwing his whole thing in the garbage because I have done the same thing with much less provocation and with much less at stake. One of the things I love about An Extra Slice is that the eliminated bakers are given the opportunity to remake whatever went wrong. It was nice to see everyone so enthusiastic about his unmelted baked Alaska.

 

There was footage on An Extra Slice of one of the male bakers decorating his baked Alaska while it was in the freezer with Iain's ice cream and Mel telling him to hurry up. I'm assuming that was before Iain assembled his completely and then put it in the other freezer with Diana's, but maybe having the door open in the first freezer contributed to Iain's ice cream being so soft later? But I agree with Iain - Diana had to have left his Alaska out for more than one minute for it to go completely liquid. When he removed the ring, it was just soup.

 

I loved Luis being so precise with his tiramisu. I can be totally OCD about certain things so I can appreciate that level of precision. I couldn't believe that Iain used cling film to line his tiramisu cake though. I knew he would have a hard time removing it later. I think Norman is next in line to go, but Iain has been so up and down that I don't think he would have lasted much longer anyway.

 

Congratulations to Richard to winning star baker again - he has been pretty consistent since the beginning so I'm not surprised. Once Norman is gone, it will be a pretty level field and I will have a harder time rooting for/against anyone.

[halopub]

I wonder if the show had already invited Howard to be one of the guests on An Extra Slice before Freezergate occurred.

....

 

There was footage on An Extra Slice of one of the male bakers decorating his baked Alaska while it was in the freezer with Iain's ice cream and Mel telling him to hurry up. I'm assuming that was before Iain assembled his completely and then put it in the other freezer with Diana's, but maybe having the door open in the first freezer contributed to Iain's ice cream being so soft later?

 

Good. Her guilty conscience got he best of her.

....

Also, let's remember that the only reason it wasn't setting there even longer is because Iain came looking for it. Diana knew it was there. Diana knew Iain thought it was in the freezer. Diana was going to let it there until Iain found it and not say a word. THAT is malicious.

 

 

I am not a Diana supporter but I am inclined to think the incident at the Friday contestant dinner was truly serious and not a way to conveniently leave the competition. I hope she regains full use of her olfactory nerve.

 

I really have given too much thought to this whole mess. (sigh) Anyhoo, based on an earlier tweet by Rev. Richard Coles, Extra Slice tapes on Sundays, before the first broadcast on Wednesday. So the production probably invited Howard to anticipate and acknowledge contestant "mishaps" but before the powers that be realized just what an uncontrollable shitstorm their edit would create. According to Diana's radio interview, Iain called her three days before the episode aired (which would line up with his taping of Extra Slice) to warn her that "the knives are out," but frankly, I think Jo and the Extra Slice folks weren't tough on her at all. If anything, they seemed to anticipate a backlash against the judges and added that footage of Luis piping in the chest freezer. 

 

Having the chest freezer might have contributed to the ice cream not setting, but since it's a chest freezer, I would think that cold air's propensity to sink would make it more likely to stay down where Iain's work was. In the upright freezer the cold air can more easily flow down and out when the door is opened.

 

This is what I've been able to cobble together of the narrative so far: before the showstopper there were initially five freezers - a mix of chest freezers and those tiny thirds of the retro fridges. Two of the freezers then failed before a day that either was 77F (Sue's voiceover) or over 86F (Paul's tweet). According to Iain, the contestants were told to make do and share the three working freezers, even those across the room. Diana interprets this differently, thinking she, Chetna and Nancy have ownership of the one closest to her work station - that that freezer is theirs and theirs alone to use.

 

Iain says he initially had his creation in one freezer, presumably the chest one we saw Luis piping in, but after he briefly took it out to work on it, that first freezer no longer had room so he turned to one with space, believing them all to be communal. When Diana opens "her" freezer, she gets irritated and asks Nancy whose ice cream that was. After hearing it's Iain, she doesn't ask Iain to take it out of "her" freezer but instead does so herself. It's not clear if Nancy saw her actually take it out. And then we have the dubious 40 seconds which Sue tweeted, toeing the company line that Iain's ice cream hadn't set in the first place - or more likely a few minutes, which Iain seems to believe.

 

Either way, did Diana purposely fail to tell Iain, or did she forget with all thing commotion going on in the tent with contestants running around with melting dishes? Both are plausible, if not equally probable. Personally, I would like to believe she had a senior moment and simply forgot but I also think it was incredibly unsportsmanlike of her to take it out in the first place. Even if she believed it was "her" assigned freezer with that "he's got his own freezer, hasn't he?", she should have then shouted at Iain off from across the tent, before putting hers in. The timing, however, get even more muddied, because Diana's daughter claims that Diana actually put Iain's ice cream back into the freezer after less than a minute out. So at what point was it out on Diana's workbench, then, for Iain to have his meltdown? And why were we not told that various contestants debated whether anyone should have been sent home when the failing equipment and heat were so against them? Were the contestants all constantly opening and closing the three freezers? Did anyone tell the judges about Diana's apparent role? Were they also told it was just 40 seconds (which might explain Mary Berry's lack of sympathy)?

 

It's a huge media mess that crisper editing might have avoided.

 

It's supposed to be a happy baking show, where competitors want to win, yes, but are also warm and collaborative. It's not supposed to be like all those other competitive cooking shows. Diana's continuingly unapologetic, non-explanation of what happened has done her no favors. Hyperbolic, nasty tweeters aside, Sue and the production's failure to understand the real audience anger their edit generated towards Diana is a bit worrying. This isn't the happy and quaint show we love and if you don't want us to be angry at a particular contestant when we're clearly being led that way with the dramatic edit, then you need to give us freaking context. Diana's own words in the aftermath make her pretty unsympathetic, but something about the very limited freezer space or how one believed there were assigned freezers would have at least taken the edge off our audience tempers. Or a clearer sense of the time lapse!

 

We count on GBBO to shy away from the trope of the reality show villain and that's why so many of us are up in arms. Either we're angry at the possibility that there's a villain at all on the show, or we're angry that we're being led to believe there is one but production is simultaneously denying an interpretation of their own making.

Edited September 5, 2014 by halopub

[halopub]

For those of you who are new to the desserts episode this weekend, let me assure you that the show gets back to its congenial, lighthearted self next week. 

 

I couldn't find the aftershow online, but there's a recap of it here with a screencap of how the dish was supposed to look. Again, it was taped before the desserts episode aired so it doesn't address how angry fans became.

[Bella]

For those of you who are new to the desserts episode this weekend, let me assure you that the show gets back to its congenial, lighthearted self next week. 

 

I couldn't find the aftershow online, but there's a recap of it here with a screencap of how the dish was supposed to look. Again, it was taped before the desserts episode aired so it doesn't address how angry fans became.

 

Well, this certainly sounds exciting, especially the part I italicized.

[Primetimer]

Pudding Week features riots, runny centers, and the notorious Bingate.

Read the story

[Trini]

Ian, nooooo!

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Yes.

[LittleIggy]

That old biddy threw Iain under the bus! She could at least have owned up to what she did.

BTW, "puddings" is another example of "two countries separated by a common language." :-)

[heebiejeebie]

The editing seemed really coy.  And reading about I have to wonder if a good part of Iain's over the top reaction was he knew someone else did it to him.  Accident or deliberate the slightly dotty old dear caused his downfall  And I think the chiding about not having his sponge to judge was a bit off.  How bad would the other effort have to be to earn him the toss instead of ice cream less Iain? 

 

It is a bit of a shame that week prior one of the hostesess can drape herself over a contestant's shoulder to the point of performance distraction but neither can keep an eye on the tent to notice the ice cream being left out.  Not their job I know but since someone else seems to have done it to another contestant and that cost him his place, the show seems to have stumbled a bit production wise and tried to put it all in Iain's hands.  I wasn't invested in Iain one way or another but it does seem like he was cost his place in a manner that should not have been put on him.  The mention of him giving them what he had seems like an admission on one hand that he might have gotten a pass, but also it managed to make their decision his fault entirely and something they simply had to do.  I can see why it upset fans initially (and probably still).

[GaT]

It doesn't seem right to me that someone can take someone else's dessert out of the freezer & it counts against the person whose dessert it was. Diana may not have meant to leave it out, but she did & basically sabotaged Iain. He shouldn't have thrown his dessert away, but there should have been some kind of allowance for him during judging.

[KAOS Agent]

Most reality shows like this have rules about not touching another contestant's work just for this very reason. Everyone is protected if you simply can't touch another person's work unless specifically asked to help. Sabotage or not, mere seconds or a lot longer, Diana removed someone else's dessert from the freezer without permission or even the other person's knowledge. That was simply unacceptable and she should have been immediately disqualified. You can't judge motive. She may be just a dotty old woman who simply got confused and forgot, but she could also be acting her ass off and have done it deliberately. Letting her get away with it sets a very bad precedent. It's not like either was ever going to win the competition, but the way this incident was handled was just icky.

[shandy]

After reading halopub's useful post, it is clear this was an unfortunate situation. They only had three working freezers and 9 bakers who kept opening the doors to play with their ice creams. Diana's 3 by 3 logic wasn't twisted, nor was Iain's in trying find another freezer as his ice cream wasn't setting ( Luis had the door open for extended periods). She shouldn't have set it down on the counter, but the producers should have given them their own freezers, or abandoned the shoot when it got so hot. Because it was all caused by some complex interactions, nobody should have been sent home, and blaming people gets complicated too.

It was interesting that Norman's freezer worked out well. But he's sensible enough to leave his vanilla icecream alone while he goes and looks at teacups. I love the guy.

[Zahdii]

The episode is here if your PBS station is running a week behind, as mine is:  http://video.pbs.org/video/2365403

678/  (Couldn't get the embedded link to work.)

 

Now for Bin-gate.  Diana had no business touching Ian's entry.  I saw her ask "Whose is that?" and one of the other ladies said they thought it was Ian's, then the camera cut away.  I suspect that there is actual footage of her removing Ian's cake, but for some reason we don't see her remove it and put hers in instead.  For all I know she winked at the camera and walked away.  Or she could have left it out by mistake, which could have been clarified if we saw her walk off in a hurry to get back to her meringue and the camera could have stayed focused on Ian's cake.  That's how it would be done on Amazing Race, the camera crew can't interfere, but if the contestants can't find something or are leaving something behind, the audience is clued in.

 

When Ian goes to the freezer and asks "Where's my ice cream?" Diana immediately replies "Oh Ian, I'm sorry."  There may have been a pause that was cut out, a pause that could have been Diana doing the mental "Ian's ice cream is gone.  Oh no!  I took his out and forgot to replace it or tell him about it!  I bet it's all melted now, and it's my fault."  When Ian groans (or growls) loudly Diana goes straight to defensive and accusatory.  "Well, haven't you got your own freezer?" complete with an almost eyeroll that she shuts down immediately when she turns and realizes that one of the cameras is pointed right at her.

 

The frustration of Ian thinking he had a real shot at getting Star Baker or at least a top spot would have been enormous.  Couple that with the high heat in a tent with no air conditioning, some of the freezers not working (which we weren't told about during the broadcast), and the fact that someone else removed his cake/ice cream and left it out...  Well, if it'd happened to me I'd have thrown the cake at Diana the second she made the crack about my own freezer.

 

In short, the editing is so poorly done and so much is withheld from the viewers that we're forced to draw our own conclusions.  If this had been an American show I'd have expected the suggestive editing as production manipulation.  Until now, I'd had a better opinion of our British counterparts ability to have a simple baking competition with no manufactured drama.

 

Another thing, count me in as someone who is getting very tired of the hosts.  I lack the gene for British humor, apparently.

[stillshimpy]

Oh boy, well that was super unfortunate all around.  Something oddly similar happened on the American version, but basically if there's a giant equipment failure, production needs to fix the darned thing before carrying on.  

 

Talk about jerk moves though, making Iain present the freaking garbage can was a bit over-the-top there, production.  Poor guy, whether or not it was a longer period of time (and it was certainly a melted mess, it didn't even look like it had been hanging around a slight chill,  let alone a freezer for any length of time) Iain interpreted it initially with being intentionally sabotaged, even though that's not the case.  

 

Martha is impressing the hell out of me.  

 

All-in-all that was a pretty mild meltdown by reality TV show standards, but I do wish that they'd figured out something to do rather than eliminating the guy.  He thought -- not unreasonably -- that someone had rather purposefully screwed with his dessert.  There wasn't enough equipment to go around for that particular challenge.  I don't know, it just felt unfair and was deeply unsatisfying to watch.  

Edited January 19, 2015 by stillshimpy

[BusyOctober]

I feel bad for Ian and there should have been allowances made for the problems that he had no control over (broken freeers, temperature of the tent & Diana's removal of his cake pan).

 

Poor Norman is circling the drain but I don't know why.  His Baked Alaska looked the prettiest/best decorated to me.  His cake and ice cream were the right consistency and there weren't any complaints about the flavors.  So why is he called out for being "safe"?  Because he made vanilla ice cream???  The rules were they could use any flavor they wanted to. Is this competition about wacky flavor profiles or who can bake the best looking/best tasting items?  So if Norman ground up some African violets or sprinkled dessicated hissing cockroach larvae in is ice cream, he'd be better off?  Stop picking on Norman!

 

I've made tiramisu before, but I had a complete recipe to follow so it wasn't very difficult!  I also used lady fingers (store bought), so my layers were pretty even thanks to the premade "sponge".  I think my recipe called for dark rum instead of brandy mixed with espresso.  I didn't do the fancy chocolate work these folks can do, nor could I have bisected that baked cake without creating a pile of crumbs.

 

Martha is continuing to be a front runner for me, but unless something tragic happens to one of Richard or Luis' upcoming "bakes", I think one of them is going to win.

 

I'm sure it's been covered, but can someone explain the difference between sponge - cake - pudding?  I know in America pudding is more closely related to a curd or custard consistency.

[stillshimpy]

Pudding is simply a term for dessert as a course , BusyOctober.   Sponge usually means a Genoise.  

 

So Pudding in England doesn't usually have to do with the term custard, it's usually a term for a course, not a specific dish.  

Edited January 19, 2015 by stillshimpy

[BoDiva]

According to various witnesses (contestants and presenters) it was out for 45 secs to a min. So it wasn't frozen to begin with. The thing I find most delightful about this show is that we see real people with real personalities. Not the freak show that was the recent U.S. version.

[QuinnM]

 

The thing I find most delightful about this show is that we see real people with real personalities. Not the freak show that was the recent U.S. version.

 

I totally missed the American version.  But since the thing I like about this is the real people and (until now) lack of edit monkey business.  I might have to look around for it so I can see the caparison.

[halopub]

According to various witnesses (contestants and presenters) it was out for 45 secs to a min. So it wasn't frozen to begin with.

 

I would hesitate to call Sue, the judges or some of the others witnesses since they all parroted the producer line about 40 seconds. It's not apparent that they actually watched the thing happen and the hosts get prompted by runners & producers to question contestants on potential storylines throughout the competition. Nancy might have observed the whole thing since the incident happened by her but I don't know how much she was focused on her own, gorgeous dish. Given that she forgot Paul's name later in the competition because of stress, I'm skeptical about relying on her recollection.

 

In short, the editing is so poorly done and so much is withheld from the viewers that we're forced to draw our own conclusions.  If this had been an American show I'd have expected the suggestive editing as production manipulation.  Until now, I'd had a better opinion of our British counterparts ability to have a simple baking competition with no manufactured drama.

 

Another thing, count me in as someone who is getting very tired of the hosts.  I lack the gene for British humor, apparently.

 

This is the second time I've noticed the show resort to convenient, rather than clear editing. In the biscuit episode, other bakers used store-bought icing and were complemented for their work. So Enwezor really got dinged for poorly baked cookies and a less than appealing design - not primarily the use of the icing. On Extra Slice, the bloopers showed that those expositional interviews with the judges, too, are often prompted by producers.

 

I think this is the third season of the show that I've watched and I totally just tune out Mel, Sue, as well as the history segment. I find Sue to be less irritating on panel shows like QI.

 

It was interesting that Norman's freezer worked out well. But he's sensible enough to leave his vanilla icecream alone while he goes and looks at teacups. I love the guy.

 

Hee! I love Norm too. I don't get the sense that he's been ruffled at all by the big production around him.

[meep.meep]

Martha used peanut butter!  And Paul didn't seem concerned during the discussion of her concept.  Does he only freak out about Americans using peanut butter?

 

The whole Baked Alaska thing was ill conceived.  Why?  #1=the stupid tent.  If they were indoors, they could have decent freezers.  #2=the producers.  If the freezers die, bring in new ones.  You're asking people to bake in a tent.  #3=the timing.  Let them have the ice cream set up over night.  Split up the challenge, even if you have to pay overtime for the crew.

[Meredith Quill]

1. Until now, I'd had a better opinion of our British counterparts ability to have a simple baking competition with no manufactured drama.

 

2. Another thing, count me in as someone who is getting very tired of the hosts.  I lack the gene for British humor, apparently.

 

1. Normal service is resumed as of next week.

2. It probably is a cultural thing because us Brits really love Mel & Sue; GBBO would not be the same without them.

[shandy]

Alaska drama aside, I was fascinated by Diana's curd pots, with the fruity curd sinking to the bottom of the pot as the sponge cooks like a soufflé on top. They looked like something southern ladies would make in the Eisenhower era, but the whipped cream she served with it was full of booze.

So many people make fondants now I was a little meh with the rest. Norm's sticky toffee pudding was straight out of pub grub but probably tasted amazing.

Edited January 19, 2015 by shandy

[Mabinogia]

I watched the episode after having read about it. Being used to American reality shows, I was expecting a lot more drama. Really, nothing much happened, at least on the show. I am glad, I was worried this was going to turn into the nasty that is US competitive reality shows, with everyone throwing Diana under the bus, or Diana twirling her mustache as she watched Iain self destruct. Instead it was a frustrated guy throwing out a crap dish he knew would lose then regretting it, but not being able to take it back so he just took his firing well and a woman who just is either very absent minded or too freaked out about her own work to worry about someone else's. (I'm going with the later based on everything I've seen of her so far.) I like that the show didn't exploit it at all. It is something that happened and they all moved on.

 

I'm sad to see Iain go, but I think what really sunk him was throwing the mess out instead of trying to salvage it like Chetna did. That said, I'm glad Norman stayed and since he was the other one on the chopping block, I'm okay with the outcome. I do think the show failed them by making them make ice cream, in the heat, with not enough freezers, but then again, they were all in the same boat and the judging did seem to take that into consideration. I mean, the other person who's cake was a melting mess wasn't in the bottom two because she made the best of it and presented what she did have, and it was good.

[Zahdii]

2. It probably is a cultural thing because us Brits really love Mel & Sue; GBBO would not be the same without them.

 

My sincere apologies if I've offended you.  I enjoy some of Mel Brooks humor (Robin Hood, Men in Tights is one of my favorite movies), I usually get the snark on Downton Abbey, and I watched 'Dave Allen at Large' as a kid.  But I often don't get the off the cuff humor.

[wlk68]

Add me to the list of folks who are having a hard time warming up to the hosts. I'm afraid I don't know which one is which but I find the dark haired host's tendency to blurt words and phrases in 'funny' voices or at louder volume to be annoying. 

 

I always thought I liked British humor - Monty Python, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers and the like - but maybe that's just a small subsection.

[Mabinogia]

I do find the darker haired one, I think that's Sue, a bit obnoxious at times. She is quite loud and blurty. Most of the time they don't bother me too much but, being comedians, their tendency to try too hard to be funny works my nerves in this particular venue, where everyone else is pretty normal they stand out as trying too hard. Said that twice, but that's how strong my impression is that they are, well, trying to hard. :)

[QuinnM]

i don't mind either of them.  I've seen all the 'Supersizers Go' so I'm used to the dark haired one.  That said, I find the drop crouch jeans just ugly.  Lets all wear Zumbas and harem pants!

[Meredith Quill]

My sincere apologies if I've offended you.  I enjoy some of Mel Brooks humor (Robin Hood, Men in Tights is one of my favorite movies), I usually get the snark on Downton Abbey, and I watched 'Dave Allen at Large' as a kid.  But I often don't get the off the cuff humor.

 

Oh no, I'm not offended at all, horses for courses and all that. :)

[LaChavalina]

This was a terribly sad episode! For Diana to have had no role at all in "Bin-gate" would have had to involve some very creative editing indeed. Did someone else put Iain's ice cream at her workstation and she didn't know it was there? I doubt it.

 

The bigger failure here is with the producers for not having an alternate challenge or alternate facilities given the issue with the weather and the freezers. Really, no one's Baked Alaska turned out very well. I get that the judges were extra lenient, but no one should have been sent home. I wonder how this would have played out on the American version, where there is prize money at stake.

[Mabinogia]

I wonder how this would have played out on the American version, where there is prize money at stake.

 

I'm pretty sure they would have painted Diana as some Machiavellian villain. They would have found some footage of her laughing to cut into Iain's breakdown and found an interview where she says something about doing anything it takes to win. Then they would have torn Iain a new one for giving up and whichever judge was playing the evil judge role would rant and rave about how many people would give anything for this chance and Iain just threw it away...literally. And no other baker would be featured and the ep wouldn't be about anything else. They might have a dramatic half hour debate about if they should vote someone out and soft hearted judge would say give them all a pass but mean judge would say that Iain sealed his fate when he presented them with nothing to taste.  

 

I much preferred this version of "well, shit happens and you didn't handle it very well but we get it, but we're still going to send you home because we don't manufacture drama and don't want to have to eliminate two people down the road just to be more dramatic."

[Athena]

Bin-gate and Diana's departure are not considered spoilers. These events happened many months ago, Diana's departure was announced the week this episode aired, and everything was well publicized.

 

Thank you! Happy posting and baked goods eating.

[GaT]

I'm pretty sure they would have painted Diana as some Machiavellian villain. They would have found some footage of her laughing to cut into Iain's breakdown and found an interview where she says something about doing anything it takes to win. 

 

 

Don't forget "I'm not here to make friends" 

[LittleIggy]

Add me to the list of folks who are having a hard time warming up to the hosts. I'm afraid I don't know which one is which but I find the dark haired host's tendency to blurt words and phrases in 'funny' voices or at louder volume to be annoying. 

 

I always thought I liked British humor - Monty Python, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers and the like - but maybe that's just a small subsection.

I'm with you. I love British humor, but can't stand those hosts. Jeff Foxworthy was better on the American version, IMO.

[shandy]

They are irritating, but I like Mel more than Sue (dark hair). The bakers seem to warm to her, and her joke with Norman about raising his temperature was unforced and lovely. I like innuendo and 'banter' but Sue comes over abrasive and trying too hard. I do love that Mel doesn't give a bleep about wearing saggy pants!

[Pallida]

My recollection of the critique of Norman's ice cream wasn't that it was vanilla (even though he's so vanilla...), rather, it needed MORE vanilla.  As a person who far prefers being able to taste the flavors in food, I can appreciate that kind of critique.  I thought his meringue work with the red ribbons was quite lovely though.

 

I wanted to give Iain a hug.  I don't feel strong enough to say if Diana was trying to sabotage him or not, but I think the system was bad (hello, how many times were freezers being opened while people were trying to set their ice creams!) and he ended up suffering the most from it.  This saddens me because it highlights the two things I like about this show being missing from this episode: people pushing themselves rather than each other, and the show providing enough time and resources for people to be at their best.  I'm glad to read the show goes back to what I love about it next week!

 

I'm hoping Chetna sticks around for awhile.  I enjoy learning about the flavors she puts together.

[Trini]

 

I'm hoping Chetna sticks around for awhile.  I enjoy learning about the flavors she puts together.

 

I really wanted to taste her baked alaska.

[Rickster]

They are irritating, but I like Mel more than Sue (dark hair). The bakers seem to warm to her, and her joke with Norman about raising his temperature was unforced and lovely. I like innuendo and 'banter' but Sue comes over abrasive and trying too hard. I do love that Mel doesn't give a bleep about wearing saggy pants!

I don't find Mel irritating at all, and sort of like her, but Sue I took an instant dislike to the minute I saw her on the show. Abrasive might be one way to describe it, smart ass manner might be the words I would choose.

[Texasmom1970]

Missed some of the episode so I missed some of Alaskagate or whatever happened. I am continuing to be impressed with Martha! Being American the pudding and sauce talk

had be a big confused. But there were some good looking desserts this episode, wish I could taste test!

[Bella]

I love British humor, but can't stand those hosts. Jeff Foxworthy was better on the American version, IMO.

 

I get that they're beloved in Britain, but we don't have a context for them here. This being the first exposure that most Americans have had to Mel and Sue, they don't come across well. Maybe if we knew them already, that would be one thing. But without it, they just annoy me, especially the dark-haired one (Sue?). Oh, well. The show was produced for its home market, not the U.S., and they're not on for extended periods of time. Meanwhile, I feel that Jeff Foxworthy had a gentle presence that wouldn't have been out of place on the British show.

 

I wanted to give Iain a hug.  I don't feel strong enough to say if Diana was trying to sabotage him or not, but I think the system was bad (hello, how many times were freezers being opened while people were trying to set their ice creams!) and he ended up suffering the most from it.  This saddens me because it highlights the two things I like about this show being missing from this episode: people pushing themselves rather than each other, and the show providing enough time and resources for people to be at their best.  I'm glad to read the show goes back to what I love about it next week!

 

I'm hoping Chetna sticks around for awhile.  I enjoy learning about the flavors she puts together.

 

They had those lovely, undoubtedly expensive, warming drawers at each station but then went cheap on the freezers - that's what I find perplexing. Given that much of the equipment is undoubtedly rented or borrowed, adding more freezers wouldn't be that much of a financial stretch. Tell the dark-haired host (Sue?) to stay home and put her salary toward the additional freezer!

 

I doubt Diana actively sabotaged Iain, but I suspect she might have looked over at the ice cream and thought that it was someone else's problem and she was too busy. I'm not sure I believe his ice cream was out for as short a time as production claims. (My issues this week are clearly with the producers.)

 

And I love Chetna. I love her creativity, her attitude, her flavors. She might not be the most classic baker, but she's the one whose kitchen I'd most like to visit.